Student’s cow has chance to earn $20,000 for Terry High School

Terry High School’s Emilee Martin is one of only nine finalists in the nation in Lucerne’s seventh annual “The Art of Dairy” Contest. She now has a chance at the grand prize — $20,000 for her school, $5,000 for herself and $5,000 for the her teacher.

This is the second consecutive year that a Terry artist has made the finals. Last year, Terry’s Fariha Rashid came in first place and won $5,000 for the school, $2,500 for herself and $2,500 for Joan Batts, her art teacher.

As a finalist, Martin was chosen to paint a life-sized acrylic cow in this year’s theme “Red, White and Moo.” Martin, a sophomore, chose to design her entry to reflect how American’s fuel their ingenuity. One side of the cow looks like the outside of a giant machine and the opposite side shows how the gears in our country work to produce fuel, in this case, milk.

Martin’s teacher, Mark Hesterlee, received $250 to buy art supplies to help create the sculpture.

When the cow arrived, Martin said she knew she had a long way to go to make her original drawing become a reality on the cow. She began by sanding, smoothing and washing the cow.

“There were so many nooks, crannies and crevices – it was overwhelming,” Marin said.

She traced her original drawing on the cow, painstakingly painting the background using acrylic paints. Using tape, she marked off sections of the cow and painted in the details.

The cow is now on display at the Randall’s grocery store in Pecan Grove where it will be for the next few weeks.

For the first time ever, the public will vote for the winner via online and mobile voting. Online polls open on April 16 at www.artofdairy.com or on the Safeway Facebook page, and voting ends May 15.

The grand prize is $20,000 for school, $5,000 for the winning student and $5,000 for the designated teacher. One student will be come in First, earning $5,000 for their school, $2,500 for the student and $2,500 for their art teacher. One student will win honorable mention and receive $1,000 for and $1,000 for his or her teacher. The remaining six finalists will receive a $500 savings bond.